In the wake of this post on working hard or just working lots, I had a few chats with people that basically asked “so, what is work that matters?” In other words, what does true hard work look like?
This, of course, will vary based on your situation. But here’s my take on it. I’ll be curious to hear what you think.
Work with Context
This is the obvious one: the work that matters is the stuff that lines up with what you’re hoping to achieve long term. If you want to write a book, time to write is time well spent. If you’re building a community, time spent cultivating and talking to the people you hope will be part of it is contextual, and likely well invested.
Yes, And…
I tend to think that it’s not enough to just check off the items on the list and call it a day. Work that matters – the stuff that really moves needles – is rarely accomplished by doing just enough to get by. To me, the hard, impactful work is the stuff where you do what’s needed to get the job done, and then always look at how you can push it one step further to make it better.
Detours, Not Obstacles
Hard work is often illustrated when you see someone diligently working their way around a challenge, rather than lamenting their circumstances. It’s the very act of doing instead of making excuses that can demonstrate work that makes a difference.
Accountability
The discipline to measure and evaluate your work and learn from that analysis is what often separates the workers from the Workers. Demonstrating results, being willing to own both successes and failures, and committing to adjust the work accordingly is the mark of quality work, not just volume of tasks.
Stuff That Yields
Chris Brogan talks about the web enabling relationships that yield. I think the hard work – the stuff that’s important – is, quite simply, the stuff that yields results. Whether that’s better relationships, more money, better brand awareness and affinity, whatever. The hard work is in dedicating yourself to the things that produce.
So those are my five. Do you have some of your own? How do you recognize hard work when you see it, aside from just the hours someone logs?
I’m curious about your take. Sound off in the comments.
Hi Amber, I really like this post. I think that a lot of people do mistake hard work with a lot of work, and that’s a shame. Following what you said about the check list, I believe that when your goal is to do the job thoroughly and research the subject fully, rather than complete x assignments, you will always create more work. By finding new options, new ideas and new directions for more work. If this is your system, you will never run out of oppertunities.
Hi Amber, I really like this post. I think that a lot of people do mistake hard work with a lot of work, and that’s a shame. Following what you said about the check list, I believe that when your goal is to do the job thoroughly and research the subject fully, rather than complete x assignments, you will always create more work. By finding new options, new ideas and new directions for more work. If this is your system, you will never run out of oppertunities.
I’d add Intent. Fairly or not, I tend to evaluate people’s work on why they’re doing it.
The hardest work usually includes finding ways past barriers, whether yours or someone else’s. It comes when hewing to a core purpose that’s hard to find…and easily lost. Those that are consciously working towards a larger, often distant, goal are the ones who, in my eyes, are working the hardest.
.-= Tamsen McMahon´s last blog ..Its you’re brand out their, please get it write =-.
I’d add Intent. Fairly or not, I tend to evaluate people’s work on why they’re doing it.
The hardest work usually includes finding ways past barriers, whether yours or someone else’s. It comes when hewing to a core purpose that’s hard to find…and easily lost. Those that are consciously working towards a larger, often distant, goal are the ones who, in my eyes, are working the hardest.
.-= Tamsen McMahon´s last blog ..Its you’re brand out their, please get it write =-.
Another great post!
For me in my nonprofit, the ‘stuff that yields’ is measured in heart. Passion. My long, hard hours are put in on things like producing blog content, brainstorming ideas for my fan page, drafting emails to individuals, organizing online events. Sometimes those can feel like slogging through mud…but when I feel the wind under my wings following something I’ve worked hard (or long) to create, it’s because someone was inspired by it. And with most nonprofits, if you ignite passion in someone, they give to the cause. It’s a hard specific to measure, but I know that when I see a lot of happy exclamation points in a reply, or a *sniff* by someone who was touched by what they read – I heave a sigh of happiness, knowing I’ve moved my org one step further.
Another great post!
For me in my nonprofit, the ‘stuff that yields’ is measured in heart. Passion. My long, hard hours are put in on things like producing blog content, brainstorming ideas for my fan page, drafting emails to individuals, organizing online events. Sometimes those can feel like slogging through mud…but when I feel the wind under my wings following something I’ve worked hard (or long) to create, it’s because someone was inspired by it. And with most nonprofits, if you ignite passion in someone, they give to the cause. It’s a hard specific to measure, but I know that when I see a lot of happy exclamation points in a reply, or a *sniff* by someone who was touched by what they read – I heave a sigh of happiness, knowing I’ve moved my org one step further.
I posted this on my facebook page last night after a meeting with a colleague earlier in the day:
“I love to hear colleagues say they have hard jobs. It might be time consuming and frustrating, but this isn’t hard. I’ve had hard. Hell, my reference point to hard is what keeps me going. I’ll take this cupcake stuff any day.”
In my life, I’ve worked as a baggage handler on the tarmac in Houston (in long pants), worked as a migrant blueberry farmer in Florida and as a UPS delivery driver in Manhattan. There’s a lot more where these came from, trust me. So I have this personal reference point to what ‘hard work’ is. And it’s not anything where I’m sitting at a computer – doing anything. The lesson I learned from all that backbreaking work is that if I learned how to work efficiently, and then replicated these processes (even on a migrant farm) that it made my work easier. The same lesson is applicable now as it was then.
All work is ‘hard’ – but when we learn how to replicate efficient processes, it makes the work more palatable. Of course I’d rather be complaining about having to work hard writing a chapter in my book while sitting with my feet in the surf in the Bahamas, but until then –
.-= Jim Mitchem´s last blog ..Spreading the Love. Maximizing the Media. =-.
I posted this on my facebook page last night after a meeting with a colleague earlier in the day:
“I love to hear colleagues say they have hard jobs. It might be time consuming and frustrating, but this isn’t hard. I’ve had hard. Hell, my reference point to hard is what keeps me going. I’ll take this cupcake stuff any day.”
In my life, I’ve worked as a baggage handler on the tarmac in Houston (in long pants), worked as a migrant blueberry farmer in Florida and as a UPS delivery driver in Manhattan. There’s a lot more where these came from, trust me. So I have this personal reference point to what ‘hard work’ is. And it’s not anything where I’m sitting at a computer – doing anything. The lesson I learned from all that backbreaking work is that if I learned how to work efficiently, and then replicated these processes (even on a migrant farm) that it made my work easier. The same lesson is applicable now as it was then.
All work is ‘hard’ – but when we learn how to replicate efficient processes, it makes the work more palatable. Of course I’d rather be complaining about having to work hard writing a chapter in my book while sitting with my feet in the surf in the Bahamas, but until then –
.-= Jim Mitchem´s last blog ..Spreading the Love. Maximizing the Media. =-.
Amber- I agree that the work that inevitably matters is work that advances you towards your goals. But I would also add that, in some cases, this work can be pretty “easy”. Easy in the sense that it’s enjoyable, or something that you otherwise look forward to.
I tend to pat myself on the back when I sit down and tackle something that I truly have no interest in doing. Mundane, thankless, and worst of all… expected. Ugh, I feel gross just thinking about it.
Lastly, I also agree with Jim. As a former civil engineer, I oversaw construction crews and learned the true meaning of HARD work. I’ll never forget this moment:
We were working on sewage pipe line when it cracked and filled the excavated hole with… well, sewage. One of the workers threw on his rubber boots and jumped in the hole to start working on the pipe.
Now here is a guy knee deep in … who looks up at me, cigarette in mouth and a big smile: “Now aren’t you glad that you went to college?”
No chance I ever forget that moment.
.-= Jason´s last blog ..dj_justjay: A friend of a friend just got offered 2 grand to eat 7 Big Macs in a half hour. I say no chance whatsoever. =-.
Amber- I agree that the work that inevitably matters is work that advances you towards your goals. But I would also add that, in some cases, this work can be pretty “easy”. Easy in the sense that it’s enjoyable, or something that you otherwise look forward to.
I tend to pat myself on the back when I sit down and tackle something that I truly have no interest in doing. Mundane, thankless, and worst of all… expected. Ugh, I feel gross just thinking about it.
Lastly, I also agree with Jim. As a former civil engineer, I oversaw construction crews and learned the true meaning of HARD work. I’ll never forget this moment:
We were working on sewage pipe line when it cracked and filled the excavated hole with… well, sewage. One of the workers threw on his rubber boots and jumped in the hole to start working on the pipe.
Now here is a guy knee deep in … who looks up at me, cigarette in mouth and a big smile: “Now aren’t you glad that you went to college?”
No chance I ever forget that moment.
.-= Jason´s last blog ..dj_justjay: A friend of a friend just got offered 2 grand to eat 7 Big Macs in a half hour. I say no chance whatsoever. =-.
Henry Ford once said that nothing was as hard as thinking.
Doing things for the sake of being active generates little return. Sometimes you need to stop. think. plan. and then execute.
but thinking is the real hard work.
Henry Ford once said that nothing was as hard as thinking.
Doing things for the sake of being active generates little return. Sometimes you need to stop. think. plan. and then execute.
but thinking is the real hard work.
Hello, Amber.
I recognize hard work by looking at progress made in perfecting a skill or completing a task. When i’m training a green horse and they develop mussel or they learn how to take a jump- that is hard work. When i’m working on my theses, finding useful research or reaching a page goal is how identify hard work. So its all about progress for me.
My Blog is http://smequine.wordpress.com
Hello, Amber.
I recognize hard work by looking at progress made in perfecting a skill or completing a task. When i’m training a green horse and they develop mussel or they learn how to take a jump- that is hard work. When i’m working on my theses, finding useful research or reaching a page goal is how identify hard work. So its all about progress for me.
My Blog is http://smequine.wordpress.com
Another interesting contribution to online consciousness Amber, thanks.
Regards this: “If you’re building a community, time spent cultivating and talking to the people you hope will be part of it is contextual, and likely well invested.” Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are building a community around your blog. What is the point of blogging and social media marketing, if not to develop your space in a community?
To stay in touch with the audience, you have got to get away from the computer and go out in the real world. Keep your contacts fresh and your market/content/social references fresher. What you see when you’re not typing is as important as what you say when you are.
Identifying and capturing your vision is the talent side of the equation – the easy part. Sharpening that talent: uncovering how best to communicate it to devoted readers in a unique yet accessible style is where the work comes in. You have found the sweet spot there!
.-= John Glynn´s last blog ..Porsche 914 Endurance Racing =-.
Another interesting contribution to online consciousness Amber, thanks.
Regards this: “If you’re building a community, time spent cultivating and talking to the people you hope will be part of it is contextual, and likely well invested.” Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are building a community around your blog. What is the point of blogging and social media marketing, if not to develop your space in a community?
To stay in touch with the audience, you have got to get away from the computer and go out in the real world. Keep your contacts fresh and your market/content/social references fresher. What you see when you’re not typing is as important as what you say when you are.
Identifying and capturing your vision is the talent side of the equation – the easy part. Sharpening that talent: uncovering how best to communicate it to devoted readers in a unique yet accessible style is where the work comes in. You have found the sweet spot there!
.-= John Glynn´s last blog ..Porsche 914 Endurance Racing =-.
I like this article and I like how you write! You make important things sound so simple, so that it doesn’t sound like they’re difficult to do at all.
Back to the article, I like the part about action as opposed to whining. There’s really no time for making excuses when you’re trying to get something done. There seem to be a lot of people out there who think the world owes it to them to make their lives easier.
I’d like to share with you this article about goal setting http://budurl.com/xnet which I really like. It’s like your article in that it gives advice on how to reach goals without getting yourself all stressed out. Hope you enjoy it!
.-= Ched´s last blog ..Where It All Begins =-.
I like this article and I like how you write! You make important things sound so simple, so that it doesn’t sound like they’re difficult to do at all.
Back to the article, I like the part about action as opposed to whining. There’s really no time for making excuses when you’re trying to get something done. There seem to be a lot of people out there who think the world owes it to them to make their lives easier.
I’d like to share with you this article about goal setting http://budurl.com/xnet which I really like. It’s like your article in that it gives advice on how to reach goals without getting yourself all stressed out. Hope you enjoy it!
.-= Ched´s last blog ..Where It All Begins =-.